Spokane Washington Police Not Investigating Attack On Gay Man As Hate Crime; Treating Danny Hawkins Case As Assault

An update on an earlier post, KXLY reports that a Spokane man badly beaten outside a downtown bar claims he was the victim of a hate crime, but Spokane Police say there's no evidence to prove this is anything other than an alcohol-fuelled brawl. Danny Hawkins contacted members of the Spokane media with the help of the gay support group Out Spokane to explain his story. Hawkins said at a news conference Saturday afternoon at the LGBT center in North Spokane that he was attacked as he left Dempsey's Brass Rail around 1:00 am because he touched a man's car. Hawkins explains he put his hand on the hood of the car, thinking that the driver was unaware he was there and was in danger of being struck by the vehicle. Hawkins says this was a hate crime because the man who beat him up was yelling gay slurs. “There were words that were very derogatory and aimed at hurting me personally,” Hawkins said. “It's the 21st century and that kind of thing shouldn't happen, we're all people, treat everybody the way you want to be treated.” Hawkins said he couldn't remember much of the fight or what his attacker looked like. During the press conference, Hawkins expressed his disappointment that Spokane Police had taken this alleged hate crime so lightly and said he was concerned that the officers didn't seem to care. Spokane Police, however, paint a different picture of what happened Saturday morning. Sergeant Tom Lee, who was not the responding officer but spoke to the officer who was there and read through the report, says there is nothing to indicate Hawkins was beat up because of his sexual orientation. The officers on scene noted Hawkins banged on the hood of the man's car and didn't simply just touch it. They also noted in the report that there were no witnesses to the crime to corroborate Hawkins' story that the man who beat him up was yelling gay slurs. Lee says Hawkins was also extremely intoxicated, and was not able to give the responding officer his own address or birthday. The sergeant also revealed that the man involved in the fight fled the scene, but later called police to file his own assault report because he felt threatened by Hawkins. The Spokane Police Department is treating Hawkins case as an assault case and not a hate crime. Attempts to reach Hawkins Sunday for a response were not successful.